- Pinto, Melissa D;
- Downs, Charles A;
- Huang, Yong;
- El-Azab, Sarah A;
- Ramrakhiani, Nathan S;
- Barisano, Anthony;
- Yu, Lu;
- Taylor, Kaitlyn;
- Esperanca, Alvaro;
- Abrahim, Heather L;
- Hughes, Thomas;
- Herrera, Maria Giraldo;
- Rahamani, Amir M;
- Dutt, Nikil;
- Chakraborty, Rana;
- Mendiola, Christian;
- Lambert, Natalie
Long-haul COVID-19, also called post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), is a new illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and characterized by the persistence of symptoms. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify a distinct and significant temporal pattern of PASC symptoms (symptom type and onset) among a nationwide sample of PASC survivors (n = 5652). The sample was randomly sorted into two independent samples for exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Five factors emerged from the EFA: (1) cold and flu-like symptoms, (2) change in smell and/or taste, (3) dyspnea and chest pain, (4) cognitive and visual problems, and (5) cardiac symptoms. The CFA had excellent model fit (x2 = 513.721, df = 207, p < 0.01, TLI = 0.952, CFI = 0.964, RMSEA = 0.024). These findings demonstrate a novel symptom pattern for PASC. These findings can enable nurses in the identification of at-risk patients and facilitate early, systematic symptom management strategies for PASC.